Chenin Blanc is one of the most versatile grapes. This wine is a botrytised, sweet version from Domaine Huet located in Vouvray, Loire Valley, France.

If you actually knew what these grapes look like when picked, you may not want to try the wine. In addition to being botrytised, this is a first pass (trie) wine – meaning the grapes, affected by botrytis (aka noble rot), were hand-selected on the first pass through the biodynamically farmed Clos du Bourg vineyard.

Some drinkers are emphatically opposed to wines like this (without tasting or reading about them) because they’re sweet. That’s just a shame though; this is a benchmark wine of the world – and something worth trying. Paired appropriately, it will blow your mind.

The sheer amount of time and effort that goes into the making a wine like this, should alone convince you to at least try it. They are among the best wine deals on the planet. These grapes are picked individually – one by one – at exactly the right moment. The time taken, the effort made…the work involved is enormous.

Deep gold with surprisingly delicate legs, the Clos du Bourg 2002 has sweetly honeyed and barnyard aromas of straw, game and ripe red apples. It couldn’t possibly be anything other than a Loire Valley Chenin Blanc with that nose.

The palate is fully sweet with contrasting high acidity. Flavours show quince, more sweet, red apple, game and honeyed biscuit. There’s a long finish to compliment it. I had hoped for sharper and more distinct flavours, but that said, it’s not cloying and is balanced, complex and layered.

We paired this WSET Very Good Plus wine with an apple pie and castellano cheese, which augmented it gorgeously.